Wireless communications, such as satellite communications, utilize electromagnetic signals to transfer information between two or more points. In conventional wireless receivers, for example satellite dish receivers, mechanical motors are combined with electrical components to adjust the position of the receiver or its antennas in azimuth and/or elevation planes to receive the desired electromagnetic signals.
An antenna panel integrated on a single printed circuit board (“PCB”) employing thousands of antennas is a novel approach to receive desired electromagnetic signals without using any mechanical adjustments. However, such an antenna panel presents significant challenges in routing electrical signals. For example, a master chip may need to deliver phase shift information (i.e. phase shift signals) to hundreds of RF front end chips that in turn control thousands of antennas. The delivery of phase shift information can require, for example, a ten-bit bus. Thus, just to deliver phase shift information, there need be thousands of traces on a PCB. In addition, other control and data buses need be routed from and to the master chip from each RF front end chip, and also each of the thousands of antennas need be coupled to at least one of hundreds of RF front end chips.
Thus, there is need in the art to overcome the high implementation cost and complexity in using antenna panels with thousands of antennas integrated on a single PCB along with hundreds of RF front end chips and a master chip integrated on the same PCB.